Two of Australia's biggest unions are at loggerheads over a push by Woolworths to change the coverage of workers at the supermarket's online fulfilment centres, a move the UWU believes is partly motivated by the retailer's concerns about multi-employer bargaining.
Employers say the remuneration bill for workers with a disability covered by the Supported Employment Services Award might increase by up to 50% following variations that the FWC says will give them a "truly comprehensive range of fair minimum wages" for the first time.
The FWC has moved to correct two perceived wrinkles in the award covering salaried IT professionals, engineers, scientists and gaming sector employees that have led to some being paid as little as $22 per hour and "excessive litigation" over its disputed coverage of unfair dismissal applicants.
A FWC member has expressed concern that a new model award clause preventing employers from directing workers to take unpaid leave during shutdowns will lead to more disputes over rejected annual leave requests.
In what it claims is its first litigation seeking to have a holding company found responsible for its subsidiaries' breaches, the FWO has initiated court action against ASX-listed Super Retail Group for self-reported underpayments of more than $1 million that led to an internal audit and backpayments exceeding $50 million that the watchdog says remain short of the mark.
The Albanese Government says it is not feasible to fund the FWC's interim increase for aged care workers before July next year and wants to hold back a third of the 15% boost until mid-2024, but an "incredulous" HSU says the sector expects the increase to apply immediately on approval.
The HSU and the ANMF say the Fair Work Act's new secure work and gender equality objectives will bolster and simplify their work value case on behalf of aged care workers, proposing that Federal Government submissions should address the changes.
A court has fined the director of a Japanese restaurant almost $25,000 after finding that he "reverse engineered" pay records provided to the FWO and asked a shortchanged employee not to "sell me out".
Following a FWC decision to pay an interim 15% rise to some aged care workers, a reconstituted bench has laid out a provisional schedule to consider phasing it in, to see whether extra increases are justified and if workers who are not directly engaged should also get a pay boost.
A large employer has been fined almost $100,000 after a court rejected its "bare apology" for requiring a newly-arrived migrant to work 12 extra hours a week for more than three years.